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Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe's diamond trade should be funding development. Instead, there is a risk that diamonds are funding repression. Lanjutkan membaca

With
the discovery of diamonds in the Marange region, Zimbabwe became one of the
world’s leading diamond producers. But instead of using diamond wealth to
drive the country’s development, there is a very real risk
that diamonds sourced from Marange are funding human rights violations.

Following
the violent takeover by the army of the Marange diamond fields in
2008, Global Witness exposed links between some of the mining companies
operating there and members of the military and secret police. The involvement in the diamond sector of
security forces loyal to the ZANU-PF ruling party, particularly around the 2008
and 2013 elections, raised concerns of off-budget diamond revenues being used
to finance human rights abuses and vote-rigging. In 2018 a parliamentary
enquiry into allegations of billions of dollars of missing diamond money confirmed
ownership of diamond mining companies by Zimbabwe’s army and Central
Intelligence Organisation.

Elements
of Zimbabwe’s highly politicised security forces have been repeatedly
implicated in widespread violence designed to silence perceived critics of the
Zimbabwean government.

As
long as diamond revenues get to abusive actors, the people of Zimbabwe are
missing out on the benefits of their country’s natural resources. Almost three
quarters of Zimbabwe’s population are living below the poverty line, yet there
is very little public information about where the country’s diamond money has
gone.

To
combat the risks associated with Marange diamonds, companies in the diamond
supply chain around the world should conduct checks on their supply chains,
known as due diligence.

Consumers
purchasing diamonds should ask to see company’s responsible sourcing policy,
and make sure the companies they choose are committed to addressing risks to
human rights and other harms in their supply chain.

If
the Zimbabwean people are to see benefits from their precious natural resource,
the government and mining companies must comprehensively and publicly account
for its diamond revenues. This should include ensuring transparent beneficial
ownership of companies managing this precious natural resource.